Jim had been trying to create a will for a while.

In fact, in 2001, he drafted his own version but couldn’t find an affordable lawyer to help him make it official. 15-years later, Jim found himself 63 years old, unmarried, and without children. Even so, there were people in his life for whom he wanted to leave a better world. He often thought of his house in the Bayview and of his roommate and nephew that lived there. What would happen if he died? Would they be able to afford the rising rent in San Francisco? When Jim looks back now, he can still feel the weight of those questions. “The will loomed over my head for years! Everything in the city is so expensive, and I wanted to get it done before I couldn’t anymore.”

The will loomed over my head for years! I wanted to get it done before I couldn’t anymore.

Then, out of the blue, Jim found his answer. “It was a Wednesday,” he remembers. Jim had just checked in for his Uber shift when his first passenger stepped in his car. Her name was Rose, and as it turned out, she worked for a nonprofit legal clinic called Open Door Legal. Goldman could not resist asking if they worked on wills. When she said “yes,” his heart nearly leaped out of his chest. Here was the service he had never known to look for.

Jim didn’t wait to set up an appointment with Open Door Legal. He stopped by that week and began working with our co-founder, Virginia Taylor. “Virginia was awesome, and everyone was so cordial. Turns out I even went to high school with one of the attorneys.” Two months later, Virginia finalized Jim’s will. Jim knew exactly how his legacy would have a profound impact on the people he loves. “It’s a huge relief, especially as my health issues intensify.” Since that day, Jim has showered the Open Door Legal team with kindness by bringing cookies to the office and even becoming a donor.

It’s a huge relief, especially as my health issues intensify.

Jim continues to be proactive about “getting his affairs in order”. With the will taken care of, he’s moved on to renovating his home and taking care of his garden. He often encourages his friends to be proactive as well by referring them to Open Door Legal. “What you guys do for the community is so important. Keep up the great work!”

Philip Green

Belinda Liu

Sil Liapis

Elder Law Attorney

(415) 610-5991
sil@opendoorlegal.org

Hannah Wischnia

Engagement Associate

(415) 906-0578
hannah@opendoorlegal.org

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Our Story

Our organization started when we realized that it was in fact possible to ensure universal access to civil representation for everyone. For years, we had watched existing legal aid nonprofits turn away more people than they helped. We had seen the government grossly underfund legal aid and attach ever-more restrictions on who could be helped. We had witnessed the private sector invest atrociously little of its accumulated wealth into legal aid.

The result of this is predictable: legal aid has become the least resourced social need in the United States. Most low and moderate-income Americans can’t get help, and as a result can’t properly enforce their rights.

We realized that by combining program innovations, new strategies for generating earned income, and a focus on fundraising from the general public we could create a system that solved this massive problem and guaranteed access to legal representation for everyone in a community, on every issue.

We decided to prototype this system in Bayview/Hunters Point because it was the only high-need neighborhood of San Francisco without a legal aid office in the neighborhood. In late 2012 we raised about $8,000 in seed funding from some generous private donors and decided to put our theories to the test.

We opened our doors on January 7th, 2013. In our first year, our core staff worked tirelessly on minimum wage to deliver services to dozens of clients. The heating in the office didn’t work, the furniture was rotten, and we couldn’t afford a receptionist. We had to scrounge office supplies and equipment from people we knew.

But we proved that our model could work. We never turned away someone for services who lived in the local community, and by rigorously tracking our outcomes we were able to get more and more support from people that hadn’t funded legal aid before. We tripled our budget between our first and second year and tripled it again in our third year.

We’ve come a long way since the days when we had to hand shred everything because we couldn’t afford a shredder. We’re excited by what the future can bring and look forward to growing our model out to encompass more and more people.

Our Board of Directors

We are proud to have a diverse board featuring local residents and professionals from a variety of different industries. The board is in charge of implementing the member-approved annual budget and overseeing our staff.